Door securing mechanism



1931- T. H. SYMINGTON 1,335,100

DOOR SECURING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 9, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mm AA HIID-IIIII Dec. 8, 1931 T. H. S YM|NGTON noon SECURING MECHANISM Filed Feb.9, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gmcmto'z 771007615 b4 Patented Dec. 8, 1931 A TQTFF E rrroMAs nsmrire'roiri'or ALTIMORE; MARYLAND,.AS$IGNOR To rr.msymine'ron a son, me, or'ia mrnvronn, MARYLAND, A conrormrron or:MARYLAND, j 1

roonsn ename MECHANISM j to maintainan effective closure of the doorsover a considerable period of time, regardless of wear, tendencyofthedoors to acquire an abnormal setting, or other factors which act tobreak down the seal between thedoor and frame edges, and accordinglyserve to destroy the refrigerating temperature within thecar.

a A further objectis to arrange theforegoing mechanism so that it "iscapable of easy'and positive operation, is simpleand durable inconstructionfand towhich the conventional securityseal may be applied; 7i belongsto 1 that In general," my invention class of door locks inwhich a locking bar spans the door isgiven a motion of rota tiontoefiect an initial opening or final clos ing of the door. For thispurpose, suitable brackets are provided on [the door, frame which coactwith crank arms, eccentrics, or

other elements on the locking bar to vproduce the desired result. Asthis arrangement has been heretofore known in the; art, considera-j blediificulty has been experienced in achieving an effective seal betweenthe doors and between any door and the adjacent portion 7 of the frame,after wear occurs or, other air leakage causes intervene.- The movementwhich present locks impart to a door is fixed by the space relation ofthe component elements and no provision is made for com:

pensating forthe looseness of the doors that may arise from theforegoingcauses; Ac cordingly, the refrigerating capacity of the cargradually decreases with. use, due to, the breaking of the airtightseal.at the doors.

As a solution of this problem, it hasbeen proposed to mount resilientpacking strips on the -doors which will act to take up the additionalclearance and hence maintain the seal. -However,th1s COIlStIllCtlOH requres addltlOIldl changes in the doors, 1S expensive to'install and isnotentirely'satisfac'tory. I

- My invention. necessitates no changes in the doors properand permitsthe-Eretention ofthe usualfelt and: canvas j packing, while at -the sametime, it. israrran'ged to securelan efli'ective closingof thedoors,whether wornor otherwise; (Essentially, it comprehends a lockingbar, which during the finalclosing of'the door, undergoesla torsionalstress, re sulting either in an' actual strain, or twisting, or in atendency soto act, the reactionfrom. which is additive to'that existingbetween the bar,-dueto itsbodily rotation, and the brack- V ets on theframe. The latter may be called the primary reaction and is capable ofclos 'ing a new door tightly, Whilelthe torsional reaction s'secondaryin nature and serves as a reservoir from which pressure may be derivedfor: taking up play in: the door as L wear occurs. Hence, the effectivelife of the door,'from the standpoint of maintaining the refrigeratingtemperature within "the car, is preserved over a longerperiod 'of timethan now obtains in present practice.

1 These andfurther objects of myinvention will be set forth in thefollowing specifica'- tion, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and the novel meansbywliich said objects are efi'ectuated willbe pointed out in the claims. i

"In the drawings: i V

Fig. l-is an elevation of the'doors of a refrigerator car-showing-niyimproved mechanismapplied thereto. 7 I Fig. 2 is a vertical sectiontakenalong the right hand dooras viewed in Fig. 1, and looking inthe-direction of the'arrow Q. in said figure, the operating lever beingomitted. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of. the lower end ofthe locking baras viewed in Fig.1. y

Fig. 4c is a section along the line' l'.4 of Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrows. Fig.5 is a section along the upper edges of thedoors, looking in the direction ofthe arrow 5 in Fig.1. a V Fig. 6 is anenlarged view along the line definitely 6-6 in Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrows, the door and car structure being omitted.

Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation showing a modified method of applying atorsional force to the locking bar.

Fig. 8 is a section along the line 8-8 in Fig. 7, looking in thedirection of the arrows. In the drawings: I

The numeral 10 denotes the side of arcfrigerator car in which is formedthe usual opening 11, the upper and lower boundary surfaces of which maybe inclined as at 12 in the customary manner. Doors 13 and 14 arepivotally mounted, as by hinges 15, in the opening 11 and the meetingedges thereof, 16 and 17, respectively, may be inclined to the thicknessof said doors in accordance with present practice. Said edges may haveapplied thereto packing strips of canvas, felt, or other sealingmaterial that will afford an air tight joint therealong.

.An intermediatebearing block 18 is disposed adjacent the swinging edgeof the door 14; and aligned therewith are bearing blocks 19 which arelocated adjacent the upper and lower edges of said door. A locking bar20, preferablyrectangular in cross-section, is 1'0- tatably mounted inthe block 18 through the medium of circular segments 21 which aresecured to said bar. The bar 2.0 extends upwardly and downwardly fromthe block 18 and each end thereof is mounted in a socket 22 which isformed in a cylindrical body portion 23, said portion being rotatablymounted in the block 19. The portions 23 extend beyond the upper andlower edges of the door 14- and each has formed thereon a crank arm 24provided with a bearing pin 25, it being understood that said pinsextend beyond the upper and lower edges of said door for coaction withelements hereinafter described. A collar 26 is secured to the baradjacent each of the blocks 19 in order to prevent endwise movement ofsaid bar.

A bracket '27 is secured to the car side '10 adjacent each of the pinsand said bracket comprises a slot 28 having the walls 29 and 30 whichare substantially parallel to the surface of the side 10. Said slot isclosed at one end but communicates at the opposite end with a mouth 31through which the pin 25 passes in the operation of the mechanism ashereinafter explained.

An operating lever 32, provided with a suitable hand grip, is attachedto the bar 20 in any approved manner substantially at the mid pointthereof for a purpose hereinafter explained. Said lever extendsdownwardly so that it may be readily grasped and comprises a slot'33through which a staple 34 passes when the doorsare closed, as shown inFig. 1. Said staple may be formed on a bracket 35 which is secured tothe door 13 and is provided with ears 36. A pin 37 passes through saidears and staple in order to maintain the lever 32 in position, and asealing wire 38 passes through said pin and one of said ears. Thenumeral 39 represents a conventional latch which is pivotally mounted onthe side 10 and adapted to hold the door 13 in a closed position, whenthe other door is open. 7

' The operation of my improved door securing mechanism is as follows:

Assuming that the doors are open and that it is desired to close thesame, the door 13 will first be moved to a closed position by hand,followed by a similar movement of the door 14 to a partly closedpostion, or one in which the pin 25 registers approximately withthe-mouth 31. Inthisposition, the lever.32 may occupy the position shownin Fig. 5, or one slightly displacedtherefrom.

Said lever will then be grasped and moved in a clockwise direction, thuscausing a similar movement on the part of the arm 24 to bring the pin 25within the slot 28. Continued movement of said lever eventually bringssaid pin into contact with the wall 30 of said slot. Further movement ofsaid lever will then set up a cam-like action between said pin and saidwall, the reaction from which operating through the blocks 19 serves toclose the door l. The lever 32 may then be secured in position by meansof the pin 37 During this functioning and due to the location ofthepoint of attachment of the lever 32 to the bar 20 and also by reasonof the fact that rotation of the ends of said bar tends to be retardedby the interaction between the pins 25 and the walls 30, it is evidentthat a torsional strain will be effected in the bar 20, thereaction fromwhich is in addition to. that exerted by the bodily rotation of saidbar. In order to. facilitate this torsional action, the bar 20'will bemade of a suitable material and will possess an appropriate crosssection.

The advantages of storing up additional energy by the method aforesaidcan be readily understood by reference to Fig. 6. In this figure, thefull lines represent the approxi mate position reached bythe arm 24 uponcompletion of the closing movement for a new door. In presentconstructions of this character, this position represents the ultimatemovement by reason of the fact that the operating lever has reached itsfinal position, but in my arrangement, the arm 24 is capable ofadditional movement in a clockwise direction due to the tendency of thebar 20 to straighten itself. Accordingly, as wear occurs, the energystored in the twisted bar 20 serves to rotate the arm 24 until itfinally reaches the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6.. Duringthis movement, the door is moved a distance A which may be regarded asthe maximum take-up necessary.

It is evident therefore that my device possesses superior advantagesover those which depend merely upon a cannning action, or similar modesof operation, to secure the clo sing of the door, since adequateprovision is made for compensating for wear as it occurs. In otherwords, there is always a pressure tending to fully seat the door inorder to maintain the air tight seal. As an aid in this respect, it willbe noted that the lever 32 is attached to the bar 20 midway of its endsand hence in a position to obtain the maximum torsional effect.

If it is'desired to open the doors, it is only necessary to remove thepin 37 and rotate the lever 32 in a counter clock-wise direction asviewed in Fig. 5. be moved into contact with the wall 29 of the slot528, the reaction from which operating through the blocks 19 and bar 20will open the door 14. V

A modified method of obtaining a torsional effect is illustrated in Fig.7 The numeral 40 represents a bearing block which is simi lar to theblock 18 and located midway of the ends of the door. A sleeve 41 isrotatably mounted at one end in the block 40 and ex- ;tends downwardlytowards the lower edge of the door. A hollow cap 42'provided with asuitable flange is secured internally to said sleeve and serves toprevent disengagement from said block. The locking bar 43 passes throughthe sleeve 41 and. is rotatably V mounted in blocks similar to 19, butsaid bar will possess suflicient rigidity to resist twisting ashereinbefore described for the bar 2O.

A torsion spring 44 embraces the bar 43, one end of said spring beinganchored to said bar and the other end to the sleeve 41. At the lowerend of said sleeve, the operating lever 45 is secured by means of a yoke46.

In this construction, when the door is closed through operation of thelever 45, the bar 43 will be rotated together with the crank arms whichit carries in the manner similar to the bar 20, but the former bar willnot be twisted. As a substitute therefor, rotation of the sleeve 41exerts a torsional stress upon the bar 43' through the medium of thespring 44. Hence, as wear occurs and the doorbecomes capable of furthermovement, the energy stored in said spring will cause a rotation of saidbar to create the necessary pressure against the door.

It isnot contemplated that my device will be limited in its applicationto the doors of refrigerator cars, as it is obvious that it is readilyadaptable to other situations in which the same problems are present.

While I have shown one set of elements and combinations thereof forefiectuating my improved securing mechanism, it is to be understood thatI do not desire to be limited to the exact forms and structures shown,as they are disclosed for the purpose of illus- The bearing pin willthen tration only, for many changes may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A door securing mechanism comprising in combination, a door forclosing an opening, a locking bar rotatably mounted on said door andarranged to be twisted inter1nediate and relative to its ends, bracketsadjacent said opening adapted to'coact with the ends of said bar uponrotation thereof to close the door, a lever for rotating said barcarried thereby and extending downwardly toward the lower edge of thedoor, and means for maintaining the lever in the door closing position,the straightening tendency of said bar exerting a continuous pressuretight closure of the door.

A door securlng meohanlsm comprlslng in combination, a door for closingan opening, a-locking bar rotatably mounted on said door, upper andlower crank arms each provided with a bearing pin socketed for thereception of and secured to the corresponding end of said bar andextending beyond the corresponding edge of the door, brackets havingopen'ended slots located adjacent said arms and adapted for coactionwith said pins upon rotation of said bar to close the door, a lever for.rotating the bar, and means for maintaining the lever in door closingposition, said bar beingarranged to be twisted by the movement of saidlever whereby the straightening tendency of the bar exerting acontinuous pressure against the ends thereof will react with saidbrackets to maintain atight closure of the door.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

THOMAS H. SYMINGTON.

loo 7 95 against the ends thereof for maintaining a

